By RICK SPRUNGER
HARTFORD CITY — Those that were not at Blackford Tuesday night missed a rally for the ages.
All you missed was a rally for the ages.
Kennedy Fuelling hit a three-pointer with 0:10 left to complete a comeback from a 17-point Norwell deficit and hand the Class 3A No. 5 Knights a 51-49 victory over Class 2A No. 5 Blackford in a headline battle of inter-class powerhouses.
Blackford still had a chance, however, and got the ball to Olivia Leas, who had already hit five three-pointers, for a wide-open look from the left corner for the win.
But she missed the shot, Chloe Wicker missed on an off-balance putback effort, and the Knights had escaped.
Both teams finished the evening with 18-3 records.
“If you could see my hair, it would be white,” joked Norwell coach Eric Thornton after watching his team rise from the dead. “We played with really good composure in the fourth quarter. This was the first time we’ve had to come from behind like that.”
But Thornton was more concerned with why his team was in a 17-point hole in the first place.
“We had a lack of energy,” Thornton said. “We were out of sync in the second quarter; we played tentative. We played off them defensively; they were getting anything they wanted.”
They were also in an offensive funk.
Norwell had seemingly begun to take control, wrapping four Fuelling free throws around a Blackford turnover in the final minute to surge ahead, 16-11.
But Wicker nailed a three from the corner at the buzzer, whether before or after being the matter of some debate.
“I think that three-pointer at the end of the quarter took the wind out of our sails,” said Thornton. “We didn’t think it should have counted.”
But the only opinion that mattered was someone in striped shirt, and he rang it up.
“Even so, that shouldn’t have mattered,” continued Thornton.
But apparently, it did.
Norwell missed its first 11 shots of the second quarter and committed five turnovers in the period.
And that three-pointer by Wicker started Blackford on a 17-0 run that ended only when Makenzie Fuess and Fuelling finally got Norwell off the schneid with a pair of layups off steals in the last 0:39 of the quarter, the last one just ahead of the buzzer.
But things got worse before they got better for Norwell in the second half.
The Knights missed six of their first seven shots of the third quarter and watched Blackford go on another 10-0 run to open up a 40-23 advantage.
When Leas connected on her fifth three-pointer of the game with 0:58 left in the third quarter, Norwell appeared to be as good as done, trailing 45-28.
But Vanessa Rosswurm swished a pair of free throws with 0:15 remaining, the Knights forced a live-ball turnover at the other end, and Fuelling buried a three at the buzzer to make it 45-33 and shift the momentum.
Suddenly, it was Blackford staring into the teeth of a motivated Norwell defense, and the Bruins blinked, connecting on just two of 10 shots in the period while committing four turnovers.
A three-pointer by Fuess, two by Fuelling, and six big points from Rosswurm, two on a steal and layup, narrowed the gap all the way down to 49-48 with 1:42 left.
Blackford then obliged Norwell by missing front ends of one-plus-bonus opportunities at the 1:01 and 0:42 marks.
Norwell took a timeout with 0:17 to play to set up the final sequence.
“We called a play and ran it to perfection,” recounted Thornton. “Vanessa set a nice screen, Annabelle (Johnson) made a nice pass, and Kennedy was shot-ready.”
Fuelling hit the shot from the left wing with 0:10 to play, the Knights made one last defensive stand, and that was the game.
Fuelling finished with a game-high 26 points after having a tough first three quarters, at one point missing 10 of 12 shots in the middle two periods.
Fuess and Rosswurm added 10 points for the Knights, who hit just 11 of 40 shots over the first three quarters, got seven of 11 in the fourth period to fall, and finished 18-for-51 for a .353 percentage.
Leas was the only Blackford player in double figures with 23 points.
The Bruins were 23-for-46 from the field for an even .500.
Norwell also won the junior varsity contest 52-26.
Addison Norris led the Knight jayvees with 22 points while Jada Dale and Macie Saalfrank added six points apiece, Ashley Waldman and Ayla Nern five each, and Mekynzi Beck and Savanna Simerman four apiece.
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NORWELL 51, BLACKFORD 49
at Blackford High School
NORWELL (18-3): Dekota Hubble 1-3 0-2 2, Kennedy Fuelling 8-23 4-4 26, Lillian Norris 0-1 0-0 0, Annabelle Johnson 1-5 0-0 3, Makenzie Fuess 4-9 0-0 10, Vanessa Rosswurm 4-9 2-2 10, Haley Green 0-1 0-0 0, Ryland Graft 0-0 0-0 0. TOTAL: 18-51 6-8 51.
BLACKFORD (18-3): Olivia Leas 8-19 2-4 23, Olivia Waters 0-4 0-2 0, Brianna Stroble 3-9 2-2 9, Savanna Morris 3-4 1-2 7, Sydnee Morris 2-5 0-0 4, Chloe Wicker 2-5 0-0 6. TOTAL: 23-46 5-10 49.
Norwell 16 4 13 18 — 51
Blackford 14 14 17 4 — 49
Three-point shooting: Norwell 9-22 (Fuelling 6-14, Johnson 1-2, Fuess 2-4, Rosswurm 0-2), Blackford 8-20 (Leas 5-12, Waters 0-1, Stroble 1-3, Wicker 2-4). Rebounds: Norwell 31 (Hubble 6, Fuess 5), Blackford 33 (Sa. Morris 7, Sy. Morris 7, Waters 5). Turnovers: Norwell 17, Blackford 19. Personal fouls: Norwell 11, Blackford 9. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.
Junior Varsity: Norwell 52, Blackford 26.
